1. Technical Field
This description generally relates to the field of imaging apparatuses, and more particularly to moving lenses within imaging apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern imaging apparatuses (e.g., video cameras, digital cameras, camera cell phones, etc.) typically include from two to upwards of ten lenses that may be moved independently of one another in order to zoom, focus, and capture a desired image. The lenses may focus the image onto a variety of image pickup devices, such as charge-coupled devices (CCDs), photographic film, or analog tape media.
In many imaging apparatuses, a number of motors automatically drive the lenses in response to signals from control circuitry. Such motors are often compact conventional motors miniaturized for this application. Unfortunately, such motors suffer from a variety of drawbacks. Miniaturized conventional motors are slow, expensive, complex, require external encoder systems to achieve high accuracy, and are difficult to make highly reliable. Conventional motors may also be subject to some degree of gear lash and may have critical limitations regarding positional repeatability.
There is, therefore, a need to develop improved mechanisms for moving lenses within imaging apparatuses.